Hamas's 'spider web' tunnels in Gaza: 'An underground city'
During the period when Israel was preparing for a ground operation in Gaza, security sources pointed out the difficulty of destroying the Hamas tunnels in the region, which were said to be hundreds of kilometers long.
One of the goals of the military operation launched by Israel against Hamas is to destroy the allegedly hundreds of kilometers long tunnels passing under Gaza.
It is stated that the depth of the tunnels, which a hostage released in Gaza described as a "spider web", is up to 80 meters.
Western and Middle Eastern sources say there are different types of tunnels under the 360 square kilometers of Gaza, including "assault, smuggling, storage and operational burrows."
Israel has invested heavily in tunnel detection, including a sensor-equipped underground barrier it calls an "iron wall"; but could not neutralize Hamas' "tunnels operating to the outside world".
Yehya Al-Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, said after the clashes in 2021, "Hamas began to say that they destroyed 100 km of tunnels. The tunnels we have in the Gaza Strip exceed 500 km. Even if what they say is true, only 100 percent of the tunnels are destroyed." They destroyed 20 of them." he said.
Hostage who sees tunnels: Like a spider web
According to Reuters, security analysts accept the existence of hundreds of kilometers of tunnels.
The tunnels are seen as one of several ways for Hamas to "bring weapons, equipment and people" into the region.
"It looked like a spider web, there were many tunnels. We walked for kilometers underground," said 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz, a recently released Israeli hostage. said.
Hamas "seeks to gain an advantage over its enemies" by forcing Israeli soldiers to operate underground in cramped areas well known to its fighters.
An Israeli military spokesman said: "I will not give detailed information about the number of kilometers of tunnels, but there are many tunnels built under schools and residential areas." he said.
"Underground city"
Israeli security sources say Israel's heavy aerial bombardments have caused little damage to the tunnel infrastructure.
Former brigadier general Amir Avivi, who was also the deputy commander of the Gaza division tasked with fighting the tunnels among his duties in the Israeli army, said, "Although we have been attacking intensively for days, Hamas's command and control ability, and even its ability to launch counter-attacks, has almost not deteriorated."
"There is a whole city all over Gaza, 40-50 meters deep. There are bunkers, headquarters and warehouses, and of course they are connected to more than a thousand rocket launch positions," Avivi said.
Some sources estimate that the depth of the tunnels is up to 80 meters.
"Egyptian officers are helping"
"They stretch for miles. They're made of concrete and very well made. Think 10 times the size of the Vietcong in Vietnam. They have a lot of money to do this," a Western security source said. said.
Another security source also said that Hamas' tunnels coming from Egypt are still active. "The supply chain is still intact. There are some Egyptian officers in the network that provides coordination. It is not clear whether the Egyptian army is aware of this," the source said.
According to two security sources and a trader in El Arish, Egypt, until recently a small number of "narrower and deeper smuggling tunnels operated between Egypt and Gaza; but after the war began, these activities almost came to a halt." Egyptian officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
When did tunnel construction start?
Hamas is thought to have begun tunneling in the mid-1990s, when Israel granted Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization a degree of autonomy in Gaza.
It is stated that digging tunnels became easier after Israel withdrew its soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005 and Hamas gained power in the 2006 elections.
At that time, Hamas's military wing, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, captured Gilad Shalit after digging a 600-meter tunnel to raid the Kerem Shalom base on the Gaza border.
A year later, Hamas used tunnels in Gaza to launch a military offensive against the forces of Mahmoud Abbas, Arafat's successor as FKÖ leader.
Commercial tunnels
It is known that there are commercial tunnels under the Rafah line. These are about one meter wide and use crane engines to transport goods in hollow barrels.
Abu Qusay, one of Rafah tunnel operators, said it takes three to six months to dig a half-mile tunnel and can bring in up to $100,000 a day.
The most profitable product was shells, which were purchased for $1 each in Egypt and brought in more than $6 in Gaza. Qusay noted that Kalashnikov rifles cost $800 in Egypt and are sold for twice that amount on the other side of the border.
Tunnels are difficult to detect
Experts point out the difficulty of locating the tunnels. Geomorphologist and geologist Joel Roskin of Israel's Bar-Ilan University noted that it is difficult to accurately map the tunnel network from the surface or from space. Top secret information is required for 3D mapping and image visualization, Roskin said.
Specialist commandos (Yahalom) from the Israeli Combat Engineering Corps, known as "weasels" and who specialize in finding and destroying tunnels, are on duty.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Yahalom fighters before the ground operation in Gaza and said, "I trust you, and the Israeli people trust you." said.
"There are lots of booby traps"
Israeli sources state that "they are facing an enemy that has learned from previous operations."
"There will be a lot of booby traps. They have thermobaric weapons, which they don't have in 2021, which are more lethal. I also believe they have acquired a lot of anti-tank weapon systems that will try to hit our armored personnel carriers and tanks," said Amnon Sofrin, former commander of the Combat Intelligence Corps.
Sofrin, who previously served as intelligence director at the Israeli spy agency Mossad, said Hamas would try to kidnap soldiers.
Daphne Richemond-Barak, a professor at Reichman University in Israel and author of the book Underground Warfare, pointed out that "the conflicts in Syria and Iraq have changed the situation."
"What the Israeli army is likely to encounter inside the tunnels is all the experience and knowledge that has been gained by groups like ISIS and transferred to Hamas," Richemond-Barak said.
İsrail'in Gazze'de kara harekatına hazırlandığı dönemde güvenlik kaynakları, bölgedeki yüzlerce kilometere uzunluğunda olduğu belirtilen Hamas tünellerinin yok edilmesinin zorluğuna dikkat çekiyor.
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